Ok...love a good healthy God centered discussion and hope if this is not the place for it that you or Terri would point me in the right direction because some of my questions or concerns do not get answered in church, or small study groups. I am stirred to my spiritual core, like Terri commented, about churches. It seems to me people stand with coffee in hand, listening to a "concert" and we are calling this worship. No, this mode of worship in its purest form is not wrong; and I like you Chris was in a very legalistic school (lived there). I know the bondage you talk about. But I too must ask the question what is up with all the theatrics in our churches? It is as though we are trying to produce the Holy Spirit and making our churches attractive for the non-believer to want to return. I think we our on the edge of offending the Holy Spirits work and responsibility.
This is exactly where this needs to happen. I was hoping for this kind of dialogue.
You are right, when all is said and done the modern form of "worship" is not "wrong" but different. Paul told the Corinithians to make their worship services "seeker friendly" by limiting the use of speaking in tongues which is a sign to unbelievers, and focus on prophesy (preaching) which is for believers.
So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" 1 Corinthians 14:23-25
We can put to rest the question "should we make our services approachable to unbelievers?" The answer is Yes. We also need to make them edifying to believers. Like so many things in Christianity, there needs to be a balance. Churches that lean more one way or the other are not "wrong", it is simply a different focus.
It often boils down to what "form" of worship we are comfortable with and our definition of true worship. Jesus says that true worship is not limited by venue or form, but rather Spirit.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. John 4:24
Standing in the Jewish temple burning a dead animal, or standing in a church with coffee in hand singing loud rock music can both be worship if the worshippers are worshiping in spirit and truth.
Worship is obviously much more than a meeting we attend. Romans 12:1 tells us that offering our bodies as a living sacrifice is "true worship". With this in mind one could argue our meetings are not worship at all but a gathering where praise, teaching and acts of worship can happen.
This brings us right back to the rules and our attempt to "make" worship happen. Jesus addressed this in Matthew 15:1-9:
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.' But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is 'devoted to God,' they are not to 'honor their father or mother' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules."
Jesus was called into question for his inappropriate "worship" and he points out that the rule keepers break God's command for the sake of "tradition". He uses an example where children could get around providing money and support for their parents if they declared their money a "gift to God", basically, if they gave it to the church for God's work. Jesus is concerned that our rules will help us miss the point on everything God considers important. In fact, the entire Bible seems devoted to the idea that these things are matters of the heart, not of actions.
The New Testament does not give us a worship service order, or even a guideline as to how we should gather or what should happen when we do. The closest thing to an order of service is found in 1 Corinthians 14:26:
What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.
I think the bottom line is that our churches need to be places where believers and built up and encouraged while unbelievers are made welcome. Places where grace is given and love is practiced, which is a good thing for believers and non-believers alike. Open places willing to embrace all the same people Jesus did, not sterile religious country clubs were only members are welcome.
I appreciate Preston Trail where we worship, and their approach (they are a coffee brewing, dim lights, loud music church) because they are seeking to do both of these things we are discussing. We get good Bible teaching, but it is very accessible to all. Grace is a commodity that our pastors want us to give out as freely as it has been given to us. In fact, I am happy to call Preston Trail "my" church. To your point, we cannot "make" worship happen. It comes from our hearts and I believe can happen in the middle of a loud rock concert or in a Catholic mass. It can happen in a bleak prison cell, or a mansion in Preston Hollow. Why? Because it happens in our heart.
I guess what I am trying to say is that instead of looking at the "form" our services take, we should be asking ourselves a different question. Are the people here truly worshipping God in their hearts? may be the better question. Am I worshipping God in my heart, or am I letting the form and venue get in the way? For some, rigidity blocks their worship. They cannot find him in the Mass, or the liturgy of a high church. Some find it easier to worship when they are preached at and they sing familiar church music such as hymns. Others find a freedom to worship in modern ways such as worship dance, praise music, and rock. I think I can still hear Jesus giving us the key: True worship happens in the heart. At the end of the day we are the church, not the buildings we assemble in. Worship is what happens inside of us, not our meeting places.
Is this fun yet?
I really like the "approachable AND edifying" phrase. I've had a lot of debates at our current place about their prior attempt at being a "seeker-friendly" church. I think that was a great idea for a time but then I think it went off the rails. My point in those debates was always "seekers, fine, but the point has to always be to turn them into FINDERS!". A lot of seeker-oriented places forget that and really water down the gospel message.
ReplyDeleteI know for myself, when Rhonda and I came back to the church at age 30 we were seekers. And yet I KNOW that if what I had found at the Menlo Park Baptist church was basically the same inside (the spiritual community) as outside (the world), I would have felt gypped. I mean, there I was after 10+ years living the world's way and realizing that left a big hole in my life - what I was SEEKING was something different than that, not the same as that or very nearly indistinguishable from that. I was drawn to a new way of being, and ultimately giving myself over to Him, precisely because it WAS different! What I learned was it's one thing to say "He meets you where you are" and another to realize "He doesn't want to leave you there". I think it's easy for seekers to be attracted to the idea of "God accepts me just the way I am", meaning they don't have to change. But I've found the real Truth of God, hard as it sometimes, is actually deeply 'attractive' even though it's often very different than you expect.
Your comments are like a fresh breeze. Haven't you found that being loved by God fundamentally changes you? I mean, it really moves you from the realization "God accepts me.." to, "Wow, he loves me too much to leave me here. He wants me to be restored as a son, a prince, a priest!" I think that a seeker that discovers the truth "God accepts me" may think that is all there is. If they do not move on to "God LOVES me" then nothing much has happened.
ReplyDeleteI think that is what most people are afraid of, that we will fill our churches with seekers totally enamored with weing accepted but not truly understanding they are LOVED and that God's love does not leave us where we were. It moves us, compels us in ways that are out of our comfort zone, challenging us, pressing us to live in that love and abandon our crutches, our dysfunctions, our lies and our sin. "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." God's love gives us the confidence to move from brokeness to wholeness.
Why is understanding the love of God so important? Because we try to put everything else in his place. As C.S. Lewis said in Letters to Malcom, "This also is Thou; neither is this Thou" meaning, God is in all things, but they are simply not God and cannot satisfy.
Leslie, my wife, recently put it this way:
Keeping focused on the truth that as Christ followers we are not defined by nor are we fulfilled by either what happens or doesn’t happen in our lives, or the roles we play or don’t get to play in life. Our value truly is in going about each day in the relationships that God has already given us and trusting Him for how he is going to use us to influence lives around us for good. That happens in many ways.
God is making us whole so that we can enjoy him forever; and, so that we can help others find wholeness. We have come full circle and back to the point: Churches (and I really mean Christians) need to be approachable AND edifying. We cannot focus only on helping others find Christ, nor can we only focus on helping other follow Christ. We need to do both! Perhaps not all in the same meeting (or service) but as a holistic approach.